'New' wrestling re-instated for 2020 Olympic Games

Wrestling has won the vote at the IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina to be included on the programme for the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games.

Wrestling, which is one of the rare sports to have transcended the
ancient and modern Olympics, won in
the first round of voting with 49 of the 95 votes cast.

The joint bid of baseball/softball was second with 24 votes and squash received
22.

The result means wrestling is assured of appearing at the 2020 Games - to be
hosted by Tokyo - and in 2024.

It is a remarkable turnaround after the sport was dropped as a
core sport by the IOC Executive Board in February and then given the
opportunity to contest for the final place at the Games by the same board when
it was short-listed with baseball/softball and squash to be judged by the full
IOC.

President of the Wrestling Federation Nenad Lalovic, who is to be credited
for some vast changes since taking over, thanked the IOC members during
the presentation for giving his organisation the opportunity to save his sport.

“This is the most important day in the 3,000 year history of our
sport,” he said.

“We need the Olympic Games to assure our existence."

Wrestling said it had streamlined the sport since the Executive
Board (EB) of the IOC voted to drop it as a core member sport of the Olympic Games.
The EB’s decision was a ‘wake-up call’ for the International Federation, FILA.

The
scoring system for some moves has changed as has the length and number of
rounds to encourage more attacking competition with less influence from
referees.

Lalovic said that work had only just begun and they would
consult with experts to overhaul the presentation of the sport and overall look
of the stadium.

Changes to the sport have made it already more exciting and attractive
to the media.

“This is the new wrestling,” Lisa LeGrand, female wrestler and
Olympic medallist, told the IOC delegates. She said wrestling was not her first
choice of sport but once she started she loved it.

Changes to wrestling include more women’s divisions in
freestyle. One IOC member has asked about corruption in the sport. And another
wants to know about the changes in the sport.

The President said, “wrestling has made mistakes but we won’t
make those mistakes again. We have re-built and modernised the sport. It affects
everyone including referees and I think we are on the right track to succeed.”

"With this vote, you have shown that the steps we have taken
to improve our sport have made a difference," said Lalovic.

"I assure each of you that our modernisation will not stop now. We will
continue to strive to be the best partner to the Olympic Movement that we can be.

"To the millions of wrestlers, supporters and fans around the world that
came together to save Olympic
wrestling, I offer a very big thank you.

"Every one of you fought very hard for this victory."

All three sports had lobbied hard and sold the key elements the
IOC looks for- such as: gender equality, cost, attraction to broadcasters and evolution
of rules. In the end the wrestling bid team convinced the 95 voting IOC Members
that they had changed enough in six months and the overhaul of their
organisation meant they were on a path for the future and the best thing for
the Olympic movement.

The presentations for Baseball/Softball and Squash both featured
Australians and were the superior presentations. However the ancient tradition
and use of Olympic wrestling medallists to convey how the athletes approved of
all of the recent changes for the future was enough for the IOC to warrant
holding on to one of the most ancient of all sports.

Leading
in to the vote the buzz around Buenos Aires was that wrestling would win the
vote. There was concern from some members of the IOC that to re-instate the sport
would confuse people and embarrass the IOC so soon after being dumped. Canadian
IOC Member Dick Pound suggested delaying the vote a further five months to
propose that wrestling should be considered as an experienced core sport rather
than fighting with a sport like squash which had never been in the Games.

However
President Rogge rejected this proposal at the point of no return with the
process. In the end the ‘new wrestling’ pitch was enough.

For Australia’s IOC members, Kevan Gosper, John Coates and James
Tomkins, it will have been a tough choice to make. Wrestling is a member sport
of the AOC, Baseball/Softball is recognised by the AOC and Australia is
extremely strong in world squash.

From a medal point of view for Australia, Baseball/Softball
offered the best opportunity and Australia has a fantastic tradition with
success in Squash.

Former
five-time Squash World Champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald, who now heads the Athletes’
Commission presented with her sport’s bid.

"Every
one of our athletes dreams of competing in the Olympic Games," Fitz-Gerald
said.

Fitz-Gerald, was world number one for 40 months, she regrets that
she never had the opportunity to play for Australia at the Olympics. She is
proud of the advances squash has made in gender equality. They are proposing a
knockout tournament for the Olympics with 32 men and 32 women competing on two
courts with 4,000 spectators watching on. It would be a knock-out
competition.

The game has changed for broadcast to make it more attractive to
Olympic viewers with glass floors and glass walls on the courts. Their
presentation was pitching innovation.

Squash is arguing that their sport is truely global, not just a
sport played in Commonwealth countries. They boast World Champions from all
five continents.

Squash officials say you can locate a court anywhere, at any
iconic location in a host city. There are professional tournaments happening in
47 countries this year. They are proud of their anti-doping record with 100%
compliance with WADA.

For
squash, there will also be huge disappointment that a journey which started 10
years ago - seeing them top the vote in 2005 but fail to get the required
two-thirds majority and then fail again in 2009 - still has some distance to go
before they perhaps achieve their ultimate goal.

"Today's decision is heartbreaking for the millions of squash players
around the world, particularly given the 10-year journey we have been on to join
the Olympic Games Sports Program,"
said squash federation president Narayana Ramachandran.

"I am encouraged by the vote we received today. We have much to offer the Olympic Movement and I am hopeful that today is not the
end of our Olympic journey."

Pitching for the combined baseball/softball bid, lobbyists said that all of the world’s best players would be desperate to compete at the 2020
Games in Tokyo.

Australian
pro baseball player Justin Huber, who has played at the top in the USA and
Japan and now plays for the Melbourne Aces told the session that the Olympic
Games are the pinnacle of an athlete’s career. He guaranteed all of the world's
best players would want to compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The baseball/softball bid proposes one venue and two 6-day
competitions back to back with baseball in the first week and softball in the
second.

They also proposed making age changes to be a part of the Youth
Olympic Games, to reduce the number of athletes for the Olympic Games and they
are expanding some forms of Paralympic versions of their Games.

Baseball
was dropped in 2005 after being plagued by doping problems in the professional
code and was forced to unite with softball as a combined federation to give
themselves the best chance of inclusion.

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